By Brianna Smith

I recently spent two nights at the Salt Fork State Park Lodge in Guernsey County. At more than 17,000 acres, Salt Fork is Ohio’s largest state park. The lodge was a convenient base with a rustic atmosphere and plenty of amenities. The drive in made it clear this was a different kind of Ohio than I’m used to. I live on the eastern side of Richland County, where there are rolling hills, but the roads to Salt Fork had far more curves, climbs, and descents.

Salt Fork takes its name from a salt well once used by Native Americans near the southeastern corner of the park. Back home, we sometimes find arrowheads in the fields, reminders that our farm was once ground Native Americans called home. Still, it can be hard to picture what the land would have looked like then. At Salt

See Full Page